The all-in-one performance enhancer...
Written: Nov 27 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Compatibility is great / performance
Cons: Pales when compared to the $300 monster cards of today
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| jeffpresto's Full Review: 3dfx Voodoo3 2000 PCI |
I bought the Voodoo3 2000 PCI about 8 months ago for my somewhat dated computer. Here are the specs:
Pentium 2 @ 400mhz
96mb SDRAM
Aureal A3d Sound
The computer came with a run-of-the-mill ATI Rage Pro graphics card with only a meager 8mb of graphics memory. This was alright in 1997 (when we bought it) but today, games demand a little more help in giving you amazing visuals. My newer games were beggining to bring out the age of my card, there was a lot of slowdown and I couldn't turn up the detail too much. I happened to be in Best Buy one day, and saw the V3 2000 PCI all alone on a shelf for the decent price of $99. I picked it up and took it home to see if it would save my computer.
Installation was a breeze. I thought it'd be a problem, because my computer (like most big brands) had the original video card integrated with the motherboard, hence I could not physically remove it. No need to worry, however, just install the card, plug your monitor into it, and boot up the PC with the included driver CD in it - 3dfx handles the rest. On-screen instructions were clear and to the point, making installation a no-brainer. In less than a half-hour I was up and running. 3dfx deserves an award for this alone!
So how did the card stack up? Let's just say I didn't think a video card could boost my computer's gaming performance this much. I was expecting a marginal increase in performance at best, but I got a complete overhaul! Suddenly, I was able to play games in 1024x768 resolution with little to no slowdown, games that before were unplayable at 800x600 resolution! Textures looked smoother, special effects were better looking, and best of all, 3dfx cards are compatible with just about EVERY game! No more running in software mode because your card doesn't support OpenGL. The V3 2000 PCI will work fine in Direct3d, OpenGL, and of course Glide.
All in all, if you're computer suffers from being a bit too slow for your tastes and you don't have enough cash to buy a new system, the V3 is for you! And now that you can find them for less than $80, it's even more reason to do so!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 99
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Epinions.com ID:
jeffpresto
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Reviews written: 24
Trusted by: 5 members
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